3. Transparency
3.1.1
Material relating to prescription medicines and their uses, whether promotional in nature or not, which is sponsored by a Member in part or in whole must clearly indicate by whom it has been sponsored. The declaration must accurately reflect the nature of the Member’s involvement.
3.2Transparency in authorship
3.2.1
Members believe that Health Care Professionals should always be responsible and have full editorial control for the content of any publication or presentation that is disseminated or presented in their name. In some circumstances, it is reasonable to expect that professional writing services are provided to authors to support the development of content for a publication or presentation. In these cases, the responsible author is expected to review the content in its entirety and assume full responsibility for said content. The writing support must be mentioned in the acknowledgment section of the publication or presentation.
3.3Guidelines for Transparency in Funding of Patient and Advocacy Groups and Patient Associations
3.3.1
The Rx&D Guidelines for Transparency in Stakeholder Funding annexed to this Code are considered an integral part of the Code as it pertains to patient and advocacy groups and patient associations.
3.4Disclosure
3.4.1
Members are encouraged to appropriately acknowledge support they provide and to ask recipients to do so.1
[[1]]ASC Guidance: Member companies must follow the guidelines from Health Canada as it relates to DTC. For Help Seeking Announcement i.e. asking a patient to speak to their HCP, the following applies:
• if the piece only mentions the Member companies product then they cannot add their name
• if the piece happens to mention ALL products and therapies then Member Companies can add the company name as it would not be seen as DTC.
www.adstandards.com/en/
www.adstandards.com/en/Clearance/ConsumerDrugs/directToConsumerReferenceLibrary.aspx[[1]]
3.4.2
Where congresses, symposia, conventions and similar events are sponsored in whole or in part by a Member, such sponsorships should be appropriately disclosed.
3.4.3
Upon a Health Care Professional’s request, Member employees must inform him/her that they have prescription data information available from various sources.2
[[2]]Example: IMS data as well as data obtained through other sources[[2]]